Critical Review by Douglas McQueen-Thomson

In the following review, McQueen-Thomson contends that Michael Bogdanov's 2000 Bell Shakespeare Company production of Troilus + Cressida successfully combined “audacious, challenging production with intelligent, coherent interpretation, proving the strengths of theatre as a political medium.”

The Bell Shakespeare Company (BSC), launched in August 1990, is celebrating its tenth birthday with Troilus + Cressida, directed by Michael Bogdanov. Company founder and Artistic Director, John Bell, has aspired to create ‘a world-class Shakespeare company’. Bogdanov's Troilus + Cressida shows that Bell has largely succeeded in this aim. The BSC stands out for its willingness to both embrace multiple Australian cultural concerns and risk bold interpretations. The presence of this world-class Shakespeare company indicates that Australian theatre has largely been freed both from the thrall of...